Press

#1: Oriole

My first moment of bliss at Oriole happened 45 minutes into my first visit. An Alaska king crab, arranged into a garden-like tableau, exploded on my tongue with bursts of Cara Cara oranges and coconutty Vidalia onion soup. I closed my eyes, and colors I’d never seen streaked across my mind... Read the full article »

Food & Wine Names Noah Best New Chef

From Trotter to Gras to Achatz, Chicago has a long legacy of game-changing tasting menus. Into that bedrock of Windy City superstars, we’re ready to carve a new name: Noah Sandoval. Here is a chef with gob-smacking vision, who convinced us in the space of 16 sublime courses that the country’s best new fine-dining experience can be found up a freight elevator at the end of a West Loop alleyway... Read the full article »

Chef of the Year: Noah Sandoval

2016 was a remarkable year for new restaurants in Chicago, and yet Noah Sandoval's Oriole, a hidden charmer with a check-that-map-again location, stood out, and most of the credit belongs to chef/owner Sandoval himself... Read the full article »

Fledgling Restaurant's Menu Soars to 4-Star Heights

It usually takes time for a restaurant to reach the four-star level, and usually it should. A four star designation denotes not only superlative food and service, but the confidence (mine) that this excellence is sustainable. That sense of permanence isn't often apparent in a new restaurant, so I tend to take a cautious approach before hanging four stars on a chef... Read the full article »

oriole takes flight

"That was one of the best meals we ever had." A couple, emboldened by wine and a multitude of stunning courses, wander into the open kitchen at Oriole and proceed to shower the staff with praise loud enough for the whole dining room to hear. Noah Sandoval, the 35 year old chef and owner, quietly thanks them. He knows how to take a compliment, having earned a Michelin star at Senza... Read the full article »

Chef Noah Sandoval Spreads his wings at Oriole

Bread service comes right down the middle of the 15-course degustation at Oriole. It's a slice of sourdough, slathered with cultured butter sprinkled with toasted grains. The synthesis of the tang of the bread, the nutty seed, and especially the cheeselike dairy is so deliciously funky it hits the pleasure centers of the brain with the force of a dope shot. Read the full article »

Senza chef Sandoval to open Oriole in the West Loop

Noah Sandoval and Genie Kwon, two highly regarded Chicago chefs, will team up to open Oriole, in the West Loop, toward the end of the year.

Sandoval, last seen running the Michelin-star-rated Senza (which closed in January), and Kwon, who led the pastry programs for Boka and GT Fish & Oyster (and was this year's Jean Banchet Awards' Rising Pastry Chef of the Year) will be joined by Cara Sandoval, Noah's wife, who will run the front of the house. Read the full article »

The Most Anticipated New Chicago Restaurants of 2016

Noah Sandoval (formerly of Senza) and his wife Cara are hoping to open their 28-seat fine dining restaurant in the West Loop by early Spring. They've gathered impressive talent: Jean Banchet award-winning pastry chef Genie Kwon is on board, as well as recently announced sommelier Aaron McManus (L2O, Intro). Expect an intimate setting where diners will be able to interact with the kitchen. Read the full article »